Step on a Crack by James PattersonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Patterson and Ledwidge introduce a new hero in an exciting thriller set in the heart of Manhattan. NYPD detective Michael Bennett is concentrating on getting his family through a particularly difficult Christmas: he and his 10 adopted children are facing the loss to cancer of his brave wife, Maeve. But a major crisis calls him away: the funeral of a former First Lady at St. Patrick's Cathedral goes horribly awry when men storm the church and take hundreds of attendees hostage. Michael is asked to try to reason with a sinister man named Jack. Jack releases all but the most famous people, and makes his demands: he wants several million dollars from each celebrity hostage, including the mayor, a popular comedic actor, a beloved talk show host, and a pop starlet. Once Jack starts killing, Michael realizes he's up against a truly diabolical foe. Patterson has a knack for creating genuinely likable heroes, and Michael fits the bill. As readers rapidly turn the pages to learn how the tense hostage drama plays out, they will also be sympathizing with Michael as he faces the agonizing loss of his wife. Totally gripping and downright impossible to put down, this is a promising start to a potential new series.
Read as an audio book. I think the narrator is the same gentleman who does the NYPD Red series - I haven't looked to confirm though.
Blurb summarizes the book fairly well so I won't rehash. This is a "new to me" series, picked off the library shelf - so to speak I was actually browsing online- when I was in need of some new audio books. I enjoyed this quite a bit.
There are two narrators for this book - one for the protagonist and one for the antagonists. I know this drives some people batty, but I don't mind. It does help differentiate good guy/bad guy and adds a touch of realism which I enjoy. I like being pulled into the story in that regard.
I did think all the Irish accents were a bit over the top. Playing up the whole "Irish cop/big Irish family in New York" felt a bit overdone. Small complaint though. The narrator did do a good job with the accents as well.
Ah, yes, the Big Family - that is not something I've found in any other mystery/thriller I've read, nor how much the family is in the forefront of the book. I did find myself asking, is this about Mike's family, or is this about the hostages? Both plots seemed to get equal face time. I think I liked the strong family aspect, with the exception of Maeve's battle with at Christmas time, just...depressing.
And a handful of those idle plot questions that really don't have an answer -
If Mike's wife was in hospice, why wasn't he on FMLA? Why was he still at work?
Why didn't the negotiators negotiate for the release of a hostage when a payment was made - as in, hostage makes their payment, set the hostage free, get the next payment, set next hostage free?
Why summon the perps to the same room, where they will know the gig is up (and could potentially tell anyone not present on their phones)? Should put them in separate rooms.
I almost want to go back an re-read the first part, now knowing who the bad guys were and see what clues I missed.
I enjoyed this enough that I'll read the next in the series. I thought Mike was a well balanced main character, the large family background was different enough to keep my interest, the plot was engaging (even with my little "hmm...." questions, and the two narrators worked well for the audio book aspect. Recommended.
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